SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Duke junior epee Dylan Nollner is in fifth place after the first day of fencing at the NCAA Men’s Fencing Championships at Freeman Coliseum.

In his third trip to the NCAA Championships, Nollner went 10-5 on the first day of competition and will enter Friday's final rounds with eight remaining bouts to make a charge into the top four. Nollner's 10 victories are tied with four other fencers for the second-most in the epee field and trail only Harvard's Peregrine Badger, who has 11 wins.

Nollner sat in eighth place after round two but won three of his final four bouts to crack the top five. He scored the third-most touches of any men’s epee fencer on day one, logging 62 points and a +8 touch differential. Fencers are ranked in the standings first by wins, then touch differential.

The day-one performance was the best of Nollner’s three trips to the national championships. He had previously sat in 17th place as a sophomore and 22nd as a freshman. Among Nollner’s remaining bouts on day two will be against current top-spot holder Peregrine Badger of Harvard and second-place holder Brian Ro of Columbia.